vulgarize

American  

[vuhl-guh-rahyz] / ˈvʌl gəˌraɪz /

especially British, vulgarise

verb (used with object)

vulgarized, vulgarizing

1. to make vulgar or coarse; lower; debase.

   to vulgarize standards of behavior.

2. to make (a technical or abstruse work) easier to understand and more widely known; popularize.

3. to translate (a work) from a classical language into the vernacular.

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vulgarize British  

/ ˈvʌlɡəˌraɪz /

verb

1. to make commonplace or vulgar; debase

2. to make (something little known or difficult to understand) widely known or popular among the public; popularize

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Other Word Forms

• unvulgarize verb (used with object)
• vulgarization noun
• vulgarizer noun

Etymology

Origin of vulgarize

First recorded in 1595–1605; vulgar + -ize

Example Sentences

In “Children of Light,” his Hollywood novel, he wrote: “There are people at this table who could vulgarize pure light.”

From New York Times • Mar. 9, 2020

James Ellroy served as one of two grand masters for the awards, saying, "We are here to vulgarize literature."

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2015

To vulgarize the dead is bad enough, but Pickwick does something worse�it anesthetizes the living.

From Time Magazine Archive

The waves of vulgarity this picture gave off made me have the strong instinct that he was going to vulgarize the office of the presidency.

From Time Magazine Archive

And it is, indeed, a noble destiny for the theatre to vindicate in these later days the greatness which sometimes it has seemed to vulgarize.

From The Drama by Irving, Henry Brodribb